This investigation identifies the principal barriers that can limit the development and
growth of manufacturing companies at the food and drink areas in the region of Cusco. In
order to do that, a qualitative investigation was made to take perspectives and opinions of
businesspeople immersed at the mentioned areas in the region of Cusco. Diverse companies
intern aspects have been analyzed, such as the use of technology for the elaboration of
products, participation at industry associations as promoters of this industry, free trade
agreements , and growth perspectives of companies that took part at the analyzed sample. The
investigation was based on interviews done to 14 businesspeople in the region of Cusco.
Results show that the interviewed businesspeople agree at most of the barriers that
were set out in the background and the review of literature for growth and development at the
manufacturing sector in the region of Cusco. In that sense, the business people considered
that the main barriers are the lack of politics that could effectively support the sector,
insufficient market, inadequate productive infrastructure, the lack of supplies for the products
elaboration, the lack of workers, the lack of efficient support by the industry associations, and
the excessive tax for their products. In order to do the diagnosis, the methodology based on
the “tree of decisions”, proposed by Hausmann, Rodrick y Velasco (2006), was used,
reaching to the conclusion that economic activity at the manufacturing sector of food and
drinks in the region of Cusco is limited by a low private productivity, and at the same time,
this is caused by a low social return, and to a low private appropiability level, which
generates that companies have low satisfaction levels in regards to their profitability.